Screenshot of Periodismo de Barrio website. In this editorial, the members of the independent publication Periodismo de Barrio, partners of Global Voices, recount how they were detained and interrogated by Cuban State Security officials from October 11 to October 12 when they were covering the zones affected by Hurricane Mathew. The editorial was originally published in Periodismo de Barrio, and has been reproduced in its totality in Global Voices (originally in Spanish) under our partnership agreement. “We were detained for doing journalism in Baracoa, in Maisí, in Imías: three of the main municipalities affected by the storm.” October 11, 2016. Six members of the team from Periodismo de Barrio and two collaborators were detained in the city of Baracoa, located in the province of Guantánamo. We were not detained for smiling. We were not detained for taking a photo of the state cafeteria located on La Gobernadora viewpoint and publishing it on our personal Facebook account. We were not detained for using the online service PayPal in our public fundraising campaign that allowed us to cover the recovery process of communities affected by Hurricane Matthew. We were detained for doing journalism in Baracoa, in Maisí, in Imías: three of the main municipalities affected by the storm. Specifically, we were detained for interviewing – or trying to interview – the local government in Imías, the powerline workers who were trying to restore electrical service, the victims, the families who evacuated vulnerable individuals, the school teachers, cooks, and school directors who lost roofs as well as books, the medical clinics that were damaged, the men and women who saved other men and women as well as their animals and plants. Those of us who went to Maisí were interrogated by State Security officials at the headquarters of the Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba while trying to obtain authorization to work in the area. Those of us who came to Jamal were detained in the home where we were staying. According to Article 67 of Cuba’s Constitution, a state of emergency is declared “in case of or before the imminence of natural disasters or catastrophes or other circumstances that by their disaster, proportion, or essence might affect the internal order, the country’s security, or the State’s stability.” While this state of emergency is in force, the rights and responsibilities of the citizens recognized by the Constitution can be administered differently. Law 75 of National Defense regulates the way in which a state of emergency is declared, as well as other exceptional situations. “A state of emergency, in accordance with Articles 67 and 93 paragraph 1, is declared by the President of the State Council by means of a resolution which expresses the reasons for starting it, the delimitation of the area where it is established, and the effective period.” Up to the date of our detainment, there was no official public communication by the President of the State Council announcing a state of emergency, apart from the announcement made October 4th by the General Staff of the Civil Defense alerting six Cuban provinces before the arrival of Hurricane Matthew. This does not have the legal status required to declare a state of emergency as provided in the Constitution. In accordance with Law 75, “in any of the exceptional situations it is guaranteed that the fundamental rights of the Constitution shall not be excluded or suspended.” In addition, “an individual’s freedom and inviolability are guaranteed to whomever resides in the national territory.” Neither Law 75 nor the Constitution of the Republic nor the Code of Ethics of the Union of Cuban Journalists — to which two of our colleagues belong — regulate the exercise of journalism during situations of natural disasters. If we recognize that during emergency situations it is guaranteed that “the fundamental rights of the Constitution shall not be excluded or suspended,” which includes freedom of speech and press, Periodismo de Barrio did not violate any law. We did not come to Baracoa with the goal of acting outside of the law. None of our members knew we would need to “be accredited” before heading to Guantánamo Province. Nevertheless, if we had tried to do so, we would not have had a representative to approach. Unlike state and foreign media, Periodismo de Barrio does not have a public official in Cuba from whom we can ask authorization to perform journalistic work in a given region. Because of this, that night, in the municipal headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior, we asked for the required authorization to do the stories we had already planned.